Compress and uncompress files (zip files)

Compressed files take up less storage space and can be transferred to other computers more quickly than uncompressed files. You can work with compressed files and folders in the same way that you work with uncompressed files and folders. You can also combine several files into a single compressed folder. This makes it easier to share a group of files.

Locate the compressed folder that you want to extract files or folders from.

Do one of the following:

To extract a single file or folder, double-click the compressed folder to open it. Then, drag the file or folder from the compressed folder to a new location.

To extract the entire contents of the compressed folder, right-click the folder, click Extract All, and then follow the instructions.

Notes

If you add encrypted files to a compressed folder, the files will be unencrypted when extracted, which might result in unintentional disclosure of personal or sensitive information. For that reason, you should avoid compressing encrypted files.

Some types of files, like JPEG pictures, are already highly compressed. If you compress several JPEG pictures into a folder, the total size of the folder will be about the same as the original collection of pictures. If you want to make pictures smaller to send in e‑mail, see Send pictures in e-mail.

If you've already created a compressed folder and you want to add a new file or folder to it, drag the files that you want to add to the compressed folder.

Compressed files take up less storage space and can be transferred to other computers more quickly than uncompressed files. You can work with compressed files and folders in the same way that you work with uncompressed files and folders. You can also combine several files into a single compressed folder, making it easier to share a group of files, since you only need to attach one folder to an e‑mail message instead of several files.

Locate the compressed folder that you want to extract files or folders from.

Do one of the following:

To extract a single file or folder, double-click the compressed folder to open it. Then, drag the file or folder from the compressed folder to a new location.

To extract the entire contents of the compressed folder, right-click the folder, click Extract All, and then follow the instructions.

Notes

If you add encrypted files to a compressed folder, the files will be unencrypted when extracted, which might result in unintentional disclosure of personal or sensitive information. For that reason, you should avoid compressing encrypted files.

Some types of files, like JPEG pictures, are already highly compressed. If you compress several JPEG pictures into a folder, the total size of the folder will be about the same as the original collection of pictures because the JPEG file format is compressed to begin with. If you want to make pictures smaller to send in e‑mail, see Send pictures or videos in e‑mail.

If you have already created a compressed folder and you want to add a new file or folder to it, drag the files you want to add to the compressed folder.